


you're my pretty boy always

by girlsonthetv



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Genre: Flashbacks, Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, Slice of Life, takes place two years after echoes, vague descriptions of people having sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 14:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13928994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlsonthetv/pseuds/girlsonthetv
Summary: when we were lost / we found each other / and headed sightless for the cityLeon and Valbar after the war.





	you're my pretty boy always

It's just after dawn when Valbar nudges Leon awake. They live fairly close to the castle and the marketplace, but it's still a decent walk to their respective workplaces. Leon groans and curses the early hour like always before getting up and splashing his face with water while Valbar makes eggs for them both. Leon is a perfectly fine cook, but Valbar is best at doing it quickly while Leon carefully swipes red pigment underneath his eyes. Just before they're out the door, Leon quietly slips on his wedding ring. Valbar always puts his on the minute he wakes up, but he supposes Leon doesn’t want to scrape his delicate skin.

They were the first same-gender marriage in the One Kingdom; indeed, the first couple married in the One Kingdom, period. Queen Anthiese had officiated the ceremony herself. It was the least she could do, she insisted, after everything they had done for her. It had made them minor celebrities for a time, although neither of them had liked the attention much; it died down soon enough, however, and after that they became known for being all-around good neighbors. Leon waves Valbar goodbye as they arrive at his market stall where he sells textiles, and Valbar continues the rest of the way to the castle by himself. A few people wave to him as he passes, and he waves back with a smile.

It almost feels odd, just going about his life after the deaths of most of his loved ones, and his adventures in killing gods with Celica. He supposes the myths never went into what happened after the evil was vanquished. As it turns out, life goes on.

He likes his new job, training cadets for knighthood. Truth be told, he was a little sick of fighting on the front lines. He thought it might be nice to do it for Celica until he reached a more proper retiring age, but then Leon hurt his shoulder and there was no question of what he would do. Genny had tried her hardest, but there was only so much the kingdom's knowledge of healing magic could accomplish. He still remembers the look of detached acceptance on Leon's face when she had said, "You won't be able to do archery anymore."

/

"What are you going to do?" Valbar had asked him on the walk back home after Genny had told them it was alright to leave. It was raining intermittently, clouds spitting rain every so often. Leon's expression was pensive; he looked like he didn't have the energy to be angry or sad.

"I don't know." Leon sighed. Archery was his one true passion in life other than handsome men, he used to joke, always conspicuously leaning on Valbar as he laughed at himself, Valbar always fondly rolling his eyes but not really minding the feeling of Leon's slender body against him.

Valbar really didn't know how it had taken so long for him to recognize the messy tangle of feelings between them.

"I don't have many marketable skills, other than my face." Leon said sarcastically, and Valbar laughed awkwardly. Times like this, he could never tell if Leon was serious or not, and if comfort was needed, even though they had been married for a year. He decided to take a chance.

"Don't get too down. You've always been able to adapt well. There's plenty of job openings these days." He rested a hand on Leon's shoulder. As he suspected, that was what he really needed - Leon leaned into the touch and said nothing for the next ten minutes or so, a little smile slipping onto his face. The silence was comfortable, rather than awkward.

When the house was barely in view, Leon said, "Thank you."

"Don't worry - " Valbar started.

"Sometimes," Leon said, eyes boring into Valbar's like arrows, going in for the kill. "I really don't know what I'd do without you."

"I love you too." Valbar said gently. Leon's soft smile was everything.

/

The trainees all salute him when he enters through the swinging gate that led to the training grounds. He grins at the sizable group of fine young men and women and waves for them to be at ease.

In the beginning, he had tried to be a hardass, he really had, but that wasn’t in his nature. Some criticized his technique, saying that it wasn’t important for an instructor to be likable. Leon always snapped back with the fact that Valbar was the instructor, and they weren’t. Valbar didn’t care one way or the other. He got results, and Saint-King Alm saw that.

He starts them on warmups, push-ups and forward lunges and running laps, the usual. After that, they divide up into pairs for sparring, or get sent to the row of targets if Valbar feels they need a bit of work on their aim. He spars some of the trainees himself, only one of them managing to beat him. In one swift motion, she knocks his lance out of his hand and points the tip of her sword at his throat. Her chest is heaving, and she’s smiling widely. “Do you yield, sir?”

“I yield.” Valbar says with a proud smile. “Good job, Marilyn. You’ve gotten much better since I first saw you.”

She giggles. Marilyn is easily the most dedicated of his charges, by far, and even Valbar can see her harboring a bit of hero worship towards him. He gave Marilyn an inch and she took a mile. All Valbar needed to do was guide that drive, and help her stoke her fire so it didn’t burn out on her, a job he was happy to undertake. “Go spar with Jameson. He could stand to learn from you.”

Marilyn nods fiercely. The duel ends in a tie, and Valbar advises Jameson to be more aggressive, and Marilyn to slow down unless she wanted to tire herself out at a bad moment. He leaves them to their practice after that.

The rest of the day flies by, and on the way to pick up Leon Valbar picks up a box of buttery caramels, one of Leon’s favorites, along with the ingredients for dinner. There was no particular occasion. He just liked to buy him things, now that they had stable jobs and weren’t mercenaries fighting for scraps anymore. He arrives at Leon's stall to find Leon counting the day's profits; he smiles like he hasn't seen Valbar in years even though it's only been some hours. He finishes up the last of his calculations and throws his arms around Valbar, pressing a gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth. A few people stare, but they quickly go back to minding their own business.

"How was your day, my love?" Leon asks. They've been married for two years, now, but Valbar's heart still does flips whenever Leon calls him a pet name.

"I'll tell you all about mine if you tell me about yours." Valbar says after kissing Leon in return. They start walking home hand in hand.

Leon trips on the walk home and one hand flies up to his injured shoulder as he hisses in pain. Valbar unceremoniously lifts him in a bridal carry, and Leon laughs self-consciously as Valbar continues walking. "I'm not a porcelain doll, Valbar, you don't have to - "

"I don't have to, but I want to." Valbar kisses Leon gently on the cheek. "And I'm going to."

Leon presses his face into Valbar's neck and Valbar can feel him smile. At home Valbar presses an icy compress to Leon's shoulder, and Leon sighs and calls him an angel. Genny had made the compress for them, as a penance for not being able to heal Leon completely, even though they had reassured her many a time it wasn't her fault. Leon spends time with it on his shoulder every night, and it soothes the ache. They eat a simple meal, and afterward Leon exclaims at the caramels' creamy texture. Valbar isn't typically one for sweets, but he has to admit they are good.

In the evenings, they like to read together for a while by the fireplace, Leon resting his head on Valbar’s shoulder as he turns the pages of a bodice-ripper with a long-haired man on the cover. Valbar prefers books of myths from the old days, tales of godlike hero-kings and their compatriots. They can distantly hear the sounds of the city winding down as shops close up and others open. He remembers when Alm had offered him residence in the castle along with his position, and he had declined. No castle could compare to the feeling of utter warmth he feels here, with Leon, in their own bubble of tranquility. Sure, it was a little ways out from the city, but that was a fine trade off.

“Valbar...” Leon murmurs. He sounds sleepy, but there’s something thick in his voice Valbar’s heard before, something that makes his pulse quicken. He feels Leon tracing his abs over his shirt with a finger. “It’s Sunday tomorrow. We don’t have to go to work until later.”

Valbar nods. He marks his page in the book he was reading about the but doesn’t put it aside just yet. “That’s true.”

“Do you...” Leon pauses, thinks of a coy way to tell Valbar what he wants like always. It was a bit of a routine of his. “Want to wait a little longer before going to bed?”

Valbar chuckles and draws Leon closer to him, feels Leon’s heart beating fast. “Of course.” He whispers in Leon’s ear.

They climb into bed and are on each other in an instant. Leon likes to be held, treated gently and touched slowly, and that’s exactly what Valbar does. “I like that.” Leon breathes as Valbar presses kisses to his throat and chest, as if this was their first time and it was news to him. As if he didn’t know Leon’s body and all its sensitive places like the back of his hand, and Leon didn’t know him just as well.

“You’re perfect.” Leon gasps, later. “So perfect - ah - how am I so lucky...”

Valbar pulls him in for a kiss and they melt together.

/

Their first time was the night before they entered Duma Tower. They had set up camp a ways away from it, but you could see it standing against the horizon, in defiance of everything holy. Celica had been getting steadily quieter as they approached it, and that night she barely said a word except to tell Leon and Valbar that they were on night watch that night. They set up the watch tent on top of a hill and silently agreed that attempting to sleep would be too much work. Neither of them could tear their eyes away from that tower - the climax of their journey with Celica. Mila was in there, supposedly, and they were going to free her, somehow.

Valbar wondered if it was the wisest choice to tell such a sheltered and self-sacrificing girl that she was the only one who could save a country by virtue of some birthmark.

"If Mila really is in there, the freak keeping her likely won't let her go without a fight." Leon spoke suddenly. "Celica's a lot like you. Ever the optimist."

Valbar chuckled. "She's optimistic, but she isn't stupid. I think she'll be prepared for the possibility."

"We should all be prepared for the possibility." Leon said quietly.

The next few minutes were silent, and Valbar could hear Leon thinking. "Penny for your thoughts, buddy?" Valbar asked, and Leon startled, as if he had forgotten Valbar was even there. He sighed.

"If there is a fight, we could die." Leon said. "So...I might as well come out and say it." He places his hand in the space between him and Valbar. "I love you. I love you so much, it pains me at times. I know you don't feel the same way, but I couldn't die fulfilled if I didn't tell you."

When Leon had told him, weeks ago, that he was suffering from a case of unrequited love, Valbar was reasonably sure it was him. He was even more sure that he loved Leon, too. Leon had held him at night while he cried for his family, the night before they left the army together to avenge them. Every step of his journey, Leon had been beside him, fighting pirates and Terrors and all kinds of awfulness in his name. What can you do with a man like that but fall in love?

But they were at war, for the love of the Mother. He was still grieving the loss of his family. How would he be able to love Leon the way he deserved to be loved? He awkwardly acknowledged Leon's implicit confession, and they had moved on. Leon was right. They could die. So he might as well put his cards on the table, be as brave as Leon. If they died, they could be satisfied. If they both lived, then the war would soon end, and they could be happy together. Maybe even settle down. What did he have to lose?

He placed his large hand on top of Leon's small one in the space between them. He felt the calluses on Leon's fingers from his bow, felt Leon look at him in amazement. "I love you too, Leon. I really do."

Leon scooted a bit closer to him, properly held his hand. His eyes shone. "So if I kissed you right now, you wouldn't mind?"

"I wouldn't mind at all."

Their first kiss was slow and chaste. Their second was slower, and significantly less chaste, and followed by a million more in the privacy of the watch tent.

/

They lay together afterward, spent, until Valbar says, “We should probably clean up.”

Leon sits up, stifling a yawn. “Let’s.”

They bathe together in the little washroom adjacent to their bedroom. It’s a form of intimacy they both like, not just because Leon doesn’t have to move his shoulder as much with Valbar washing his back for him. Leon nearly falls asleep from the warm water, and Valbar isn’t much better. It really is late. Moonlight shines in through the window as they get back into bed.

“Am I getting old?” Leon asks as they get into bed, this time to retire for the night. He looks at Valbar with soft, sleepy eyes. “I used to be able to stay up later than this.”

“You’re twenty-six, Leon. If you’re old, I’m downright decrepit.” Valbar chuckles.

Leon smiles. "Don't worry, honey. I love you even though you're decrepit." He leans in for one more slow, sweet kiss - just like honey. His head hits the pillow and he’s out like a light.

Valbar looks at his husband for a moment, simply looks at him with no makeup on, off in the realm of dreams. He wonders if this is how saints feel when they pray. Kamui had told him once that if someone looks beautiful when they're asleep, you must really love them, because nobody actually looks beautiful when they sleep. He resolves to send Kamui a letter soon, ask him how he's been.

He watches Leon's chest rise and fall gently, and wraps him up in his arms as he feels his eyelids grow heavy. As he falls asleep, he smiles at the thought of another day with Leon.

**Author's Note:**

> *points rapidly between Leon and Valbar* Gay
> 
> i hope you liked it! leave a comment if you did i cherish every single comment i get


End file.
